Kia Classic Preview and TV Schedule

The Kia Classic is next on the LPGA tournament schedule. Anna Nordqvist will defend her 2014 championship on the Park Hyatt Aviara Golf Club track in Carlsbad, California against an exceptionally strong field of challengers.

The Venue

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Designed by Arnold Palmer, the Aviara is ranked by Golf Digest among the top 100 resort golf courses in the country. The par-72 7,007 yard coastal California track is a favorite among Tour players. The course is a visual delight, overlooking the Batiquitos Lagoon nature preserve and sculpted around rolling hillsides and with plenty of bunker and water challenges the track will also provide tests of players’ course management and shot placement skills and give everyone an opportunity to fine tune their games before the season’s first Major.

The Field

The drama of the 2014 Kia Classic revolved around a fourth round battle between hometown favorite Lizette Salas and Anna Nordqvist, who had started the 2014 season utterly discouraged and considering abandoning competition but who would claim her second win of the season on that Sunday.

Lizette Salas

Nordqvist shot a first-round 73 on Thursday and was in a tie for 53rd after 18 holes but shot back-to-back 67’s on the weekend, with a stunning 4th round that included six birdies and a single bogey, to close the deal over Salas by a single shot despite her dramatic 7-foot birdie on the final hole.

Lexi Thompson, who would go on to win the 2014 Kraft Nabisco (now rebranded as the ANA Inspiration) and claim the honor of that traditional leap into Poppy’s Pond, was getting her season warmed up. Thompson played the final round with birdies on four of her last six holes to get to 11-under par and claimed a solo 3rd place finish.

Lexi Thompson.

That was last year. We haven’t seen what looks like a winning game from Nordqvist, Salas or Thompson and the field looks very different going into the 2015 Kia Classic. Six different champions at the Tour’s first six events, five of them from South Korea, signals a shift in the balance of power, and in event after event veteran players are being challenged by rookies of exceptional ability and talent.

Lydia Ko is starting her 8th week at the top of the Rolex Rankings in a record-breaking ascent that has left all of us — her competitors, commentators and golf fans alike — astonished and in awe of her athletic talent and mental poise. The 17-year old is coming into the Kia Classic with two 2015 victories to her credit. There’s no doubt in my mind that there will be more before the season ends next November.

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The Kia Classic is the final Tour event before the season’s first Major, the ANA Inspiration, and will be a dress rehearsal for a fierce battle that’s certain to unfold in the desert. Ko will play her steady game of precision and control as will 2nd ranked Inbee Park.

Stacy Lewis, who’s been unable to close the deal yet this season, will be playing hard for the win, and Lewis will be attempting to redeem herself after her stinging single shot loss last week to rookie Hyo Joo Kim at the Founders Cup.

With Inbee Park, Suzann Pettersen and Shanshan Feng returning to the field, I’m expecting a shift in the power dynamic that’s going to be complicated by several standout rookies. I’ll take a closer look at that dynamic tomorrow in my fantasy picks for the Kia Classic.

Media Coverage

Golf Channel will provide live coverage of all four rounds of the Kia Classic, from Thursday, March 26 through Sunday, March 29 from 6-9pm ET. You can also follow the action on the LPGA’s electronic leaderboard, and I will provide regular updates here at ProGolfNow.com. LadiesDream Golf will also host a post-tourney hangout for those of us who just didn’t get enough. Follow this link to the Ladies Dream Golf Google+ event page for time and log-in information.

Follow me on Twitter @bethbethel and I’ll notify you when I publish my commentary.

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